Fall Dirty (SEALs Undone Book 8) Read online

  “Beautiful.”

  Too late. Her heart leapt sky-high as she turned to her right and he gave her a slow, panty-melting smile. He was leaning back against a pillar and he looked impossibly good. Long, muscular legs, his thighs stretching his jeans just enough to make her mouth water. Grey t-shirt stretched across his chest, fluttering loose over his abs, and when she got close enough, she was certain it would smell like fabric softener.

  She’d never gotten wet over Downy before Hunter. Now it was her favourite scent.

  He moved toward her like a panther. Liquid movement, his gaze keen and fixed on her. She held her breath as he skimmed his fingertips along her jaw then exhaled in a rush as he brushed the barest of kisses against her mouth.

  “Hi,” she whispered shakily.

  “You look exhausted,” he muttered, his brow pulling together. “How many bags do you have coming?”

  “Two.” She rolled her cheek against his palm and closed her eyes. She was feeling better already.

  He took the handle for the makeup case from her and she opened her mouth to protest, but he moved the case gently, clearly remembering how she’d told him how valuable the contents were. So she bit her tongue, which he didn’t miss. He rewarded her with a pat on her bottom once they arrived at her baggage carousel, an amused smirk curling up the corners of his mouth.

  He righted the makeup case on its base and told her to wait with it. She watched as he grabbed a luggage cart. An unnecessary few dollars, but the look on his face said he didn’t want to hear an argument over that, either. She pointed out her suitcases and he swung them off the moving belt with ease. He asked if the biggest one could go on the bottom— “Nothing fragile in here?” — and then again if he could put the makeup case on top.

  “I can pull it.”

  “That wasn’t what I asked, was it?”

  She stuck her tongue out at him and he arched one eyebrow. Oooh, bossy. She laughed, but a tremor of desire shook her core, too. It shifted more of those things inside her that had long been dormant.

  “Let’s get you home and into a bath.” That look on his face—it was perfect. If he’d just hold it a hair longer…if it translated beyond moments like this, beyond the scorching sex they’d been having lately, to the rest of their relationship, she’d think he might truly understand her. That she could, in fact, tell him everything she desired without fear of judgement or rejection.

  But when he looped his hand through hers and gave her a big, sloppy grin as he pushed the cart to his SUV, she sighed to herself. It didn’t matter, really. He was absolutely perfect just the way he was.

  It was time she set aside her secret desire that the perfect boyfriend and the perfect Dom might one day be the same person. She’d found the former, and he would never be the latter.

  And if she was going to fall in love with him, truly and without reservation, it was time to bury the part of her that wished it were otherwise so, once and for all.

  Chapter Four

  Hunter bounced in the doorway to her studio like a kid at Christmas, which he sort of was—they were two weeks away from the holidays, but he’d told her over breakfast that morning, the day after she got back from Tahoe, that he wanted to give her present to her early.

  “It’s not your only present. I’m still going to fill your stocking on Christmas Day.” A few weeks before, they’d discovered that they’d both be essentially alone on Christmas, although Hunter had a dinner planned with friends, and Serena usually served dinner at the Men’s Mission in downtown San Diego. But she’d tentatively suggested maybe they spend the morning together, and Hunter had been all for it.

  Of course he had been. He was all for everything. The most agreeable man in the universe.

  “And this way we can start the holidays sooner—officially like.”

  “Okay, if you want to. And conveniently,” she added, feeling mighty proud of herself, “I already have your present.” She didn’t have any wrapping paper, but she could make something up in her studio while he was at work.

  “Tonight, then?” He’d given her a wicked grin that made her toes curl.

  “Tonight.”

  Now it was time, and she was dithering in her supply closet, looking for exactly the right ribbon. The watch wasn’t that big of a box, really, but she didn’t have any holiday bows, so she needed something that would still look festive and special enough for the ten seconds he saw it before opening…

  “Oh, for fuck’s sake,” she muttered at herself.

  “A problem?”

  She glanced back at him over her shoulder. “Yeah, I’m being ridiculous.” Taking a deep breath, she spun around and held out the silver-wrapped cube. She’d painted the paper herself at lunch time, drying it with her hair dryer. The fat, paint-splattered silver script read Hunter Is My Favourite Christmas Elf over and over again. She’d carefully wrapped it so all the tape was tucked away on the bottom, and in delicate red ink—the only colour on the entire gift—she’d written, Love, Serena.

  Not quite “I love you,” but getting there.

  Maybe she’d be more keen to say it if he said it again. After that first night, he’d used the l-word many times, but never in that particular chain. More like, “I love the way you move/smell/feel/laugh/concentrate…”

  Yeah, she knew he liked her a lot. The feeling was plenty mutual. He was amazing. They could start a mutual admiration society for the ages.

  But she’d only said those particular three words, in that exact order, to one other man. And he’d scorched her heart so badly it was a miracle she could feel anything. If she said them again, it would be on a solid foundation.

  When. She’d get there with Hunter. She could feel it.

  “It doesn’t have a ribbon, because I couldn’t find the right one, but… here you go. Merry Christmas.” She handed over the box, and took it with a surprisingly tender smile.

  “And this is for you,” he said, holding out a box of his own—a rectangle about the size and shape of a tissue box.

  She reached for it and he lifted both presents above his head.

  “No fair, Hunter!” she laughed. “You’re nearly a foot taller than me.”

  “We should open them in your room, I think.” He winked at her and turned on his heel. She couldn’t do anything but follow, not that she was complaining.

  Maybe his present was romantic. They’d talked about going out with his friends to a bar, but she wouldn’t care if they stayed in, either. “Is that a hint?”

  “Maybe.” He wigged her present in the air. That just meant that he was wiggling his entire body, which distracted her from caring about where they did this, because a dancing Hunter was a hot Hunter.

  Hell, all versions of Hunter were hot. She groped his butt because it was fine, then jumped on his back, loving that he barely stumbled at the sneak attack.

  Kissing his neck, she tried to leverage herself up his back and onto his shoulders, but he dumped the presents on the bed before she could get to them and before she knew it, she was flat on her back being pressed against the bed by six-foot-four-inches, two-hundred-ten pounds of laughing, sexy man.

  “Desperate for your present?” he breathed against her lips.

  She grinned. “Maybe.”

  “I hope so.” He gave her an intense, thorough look, his hazel eyes almost liquid gold in the warm lamplight. “I should tell you about the present, you know. It’s…I…um…”

  She giggled and nipped at his jaw. “Wow, really?”

  “Hush.” He gave her a mock-stern look that evaporated her panties. “I stumbled across them, let’s put it that way. But when I found them, I was…pleased.”

  “Okay.” She smoothed her hands over his shoulders. If they didn’t get to gift opening quickly, she was going to start touching him inappropriately and his present might just be an orgasm instead. “You go first.”

  He pulled her up to sit in the middle of the bed, facing him between his spread legs. He pulled her calves up and ov
er his thighs, so they formed a kind of human pretzel, with the presents perched between their four legs on the bedspread.

  Everything was done with equal parts care and enthusiasm. That was Hunter in a nutshell, and—

  She looked up from the presents and cupped his face. Five o’clock shadow rubbed against her palms. Green-gold eyes glinted at her happily.

  Care and enthusiasm.

  Suddenly she felt like a total idiot for worrying if he might be enough for her. He was more than she’d ever thought she deserved, more than she ever imagined. Hot, happy words bubbled and rose inside her, suddenly desperate to spill out of her mouth.

  “I love you, Hunter.” She bit her lip, then burst out laughing. “Wow. That was easier than I thought. I love you. I don’t know what I did to have you delivered into my life, but wow, do you make me happy. Like the happiest girl in the world.”

  He grinned right back and caught the back of her neck as she tried to pull away. “Come here, happy girl.” He parted her lips with his, kissing her softly but thoroughly. The man could devastate with his mouth when he wanted to. “I’m happy if you’re happy.”

  “I’m so happy right now.”

  “Then open your present.”

  “You go first.”

  They argued back and forth twice before she won by pointing out that his gift was on top, because it was smaller, and ergo, meant to go first.

  Before he ripped into the present he took his phone out and documented the gift wrap with a photo. Then he carefully peeled it back and as soon as he saw the watch, he groaned with delight.

  She knew that sound, intimately. He really liked the watch. She was totally proud of herself for choosing it.

  And then it was her turn. He’d gone with store-bought wrapping paper, the nice stuff with a decent weight, and his tape looked like it had been cut with scissors, not ripped off a dispenser. The ridiculous little details that only an artist would notice. She commented on both points, because maybe he made those choices with her in mind, and she wanted to recognize how considerate he could be.

  Inside she found exactly what it had looked like while wrapped—a tissue box. Covered in notes written in black marker. With a curious quick glance up at his face, she followed the instructions on the box.

  Step 1: Kiss Hunter

  Step 2: Remember that he loves everything about you

  Step 3: Look inside

  The objects inside were wrapped in tissue paper. Solid, she thought the first one might be a candlestick or a small statue…until she pulled the tissue paper off.

  A glass dildo. Heat rushed to her face. “Oh.”

  “Keep going,” he murmured. She looked at him again, quickly, then reached back inside the box. What else did he get her, lube?

  No, the second thing was hard, too. Smaller.

  As soon as it was in her palm, she knew what it was. The heat intensified in her face, too, because she suddenly knew exactly what this one looked like, without pulling off the tissue paper. The dildo she’d only looked at briefly, but they were a matching set, and she’d come back to look at this thing more than once.

  This glass…butt plug…holy shit, she could hardly even think the words…had been something she’d stumbled across when she visited the Blush Shoppe website to get condoms and lube when she started dating Hunter.

  She’d heard about the site on a commercial shoot, and everyone knew that drugstores ripped you off.

  It wasn’t that she was a stranger to sex toys, exactly. But she’d never bought them for herself, and it had been years since anyone had bought them to use with her.

  “How…” She peeled back the tissue paper. Yep, definitely the same one she’d been looking at. Oh, it was so pretty in person. Smaller than she thought, although that wasn’t a bad thing. The glass warmed in her hand, smooth all over, and she squirmed unconsciously in her spot.

  Remember that he loves everything about you.

  “Where did you get this idea?” She meant for the question to be light and teasing, but her voice wavered and she couldn’t get her gaze all the way up to meet his. Her eyes locked on his neck and she watched him swallow, the muscles and tendons moving beneath his tan, firm skin.

  “Last month when I used your computer to charge my phone…”

  She gasped and jerked her eyes up. The look on his face destroyed her—a little unsure but a lot serious—and she stumbled over her words as her thoughts and memories clicked together. “The night you…”

  He’d never looked more serious. He was only in his early thirties and he usually looked younger than that, but now little lines popped out at the corners of his eyes, his mouth.

  She reached out and traced the line of his lower lip. “Hunter?”

  * * *

  He reached up and grabbed her wrist, holding her fingers against his lips. There was no point backing down now. He’d given her the sex toys. And she might be freaking out, but her pupils were dilated and her nipples were doing their damnedest to slice through her thin t-shirt. He kissed her fingertips before hooding his gaze and drawling, “The night I fucked you senseless against the wall?”

  She nodded hesitantly. Shit, this wasn’t how he thought this would go. “Why didn’t you just tell me that you saw it on the screen?”

  “You were so damn sweet,” he admitted roughly. “I don’t know. We’d just started dating. And then I saw that and thought…freaky girl, huh? What exactly were you hiding? And when I got back with the food, I lost myself a bit.”

  Her cheeks were bright red.

  He leaned forward and kissed her cheek, then found her ear. “There’s nothing to be embarrassed about. You’re my freaky girl.”

  She shuddered against him. Damn. He eased her back onto the bed and stretched out beside her, stroking his palm up and down her side. He couldn’t help but move against her, show her how hard he was for her, but he kept his kisses soft.

  Persistent and dirty, but soft.

  “Did I guess wildly wrong?”

  She shook her head.

  Hot damn. “Good. Then what’s with the blushing?” And the shaking, and general freaking out, but he wasn’t going to name those.

  “It’s a long story,” she finally said, relaxing against him. Her fingers tugged at his shirt and she slid her cool, clever little hands over his abs.

  “Is it one you want to tell me?” She nodded slowly and his heart cracked open. “Then we’ve got all night.”

  Chapter Five

  The last thing Serena wanted to do was bring down the excitement of their first Christmas gifts with a possibly off-putting conversation about kink and power and trust with her boyfriend who loved her so hard…and knew absolutely nothing about any of that.

  So she looked him straight in the eye and lied, at least by omission, ignoring the awful tug in her gut. “I grew up in a crazy religious family. I have some skewed perspectives of what should stay inside one’s head, never spoken of.” She could see his doubt writ all over his face. Yeah, she hadn’t exactly been a prude since they’d gotten together. “I’ve had a decade of learning otherwise, of course, but there’s—” vanilla and then there’s kink, but would using those words give her away? “Regular dirty and extra dirty.”

  “And when I turned on the extra dirty, you liked it.”

  Loved it. Her heart leapt into her throat as she nodded.

  “So what else don’t I know about?”

  He was too smart for her. She sighed. “God, Hunter, you don’t really expect me to list all the random things that have turned me on, do you?”

  He gripped her chin again—speaking of things that turned her on—and gave her a stern look. “Yes, I do.”

  “I like this,” she whispered. If he was already doing it, no harm in letting him know it made her breasts ache, right? “You being bossy and…”

  He stroked his thumb over the ridge of her jaw. “This, too? Holding your gaze like this?” She tried to nod and he held her head in place. “Use your words.”
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br />   “Yes.” Sir. “I like it when you grip my chin like that. It…” She might be a submissive, but she was still a healthy adult woman capable of teasing her boyfriend and pushing back. “It makes me wet. Stern does it for me in a big way.”

  He searched her face. “I’m not always stern.”

  “And I’m not a one-trick pony.” She wound her arms around his neck and pulled him close. Talking about her long-hidden kinky tendencies was pretty far outside her comfort zone. Seducing Hunter? That was smack in the middle of it. “I was just thrown by your gifts. Let me pause right now to say, again, that I’m falling in love you. It started the day I met you and every day, every part of you makes me tumble faster. I love you when you’re goofy, and I love you when you get all excited. And I love it when you get all macho and demand things of me, too. But whether or not you do that doesn’t impact on how much I adore you. And I’m more than a little terrified of losing all of that, of losing you. I don’t want to be a freak, you know?”

  He let her kiss him, let her shift beneath him until her softest parts were rubbing against his hardest parts, but her SEAL wasn’t easily distracted. As soon as her hands wandered close to his fly, he captured them and dragged them back up to the safe zone.

  The conversation zone.

  He pinned her hands to the bed on either side of her body. “But do you want me to do that—this—more often? Do you like it when I’m in charge?”

  Too damn smart.

  The problem was she wanted him to want it. It didn’t work if wasn’t real. And telling him what she wanted would be too much like topping from the bottom. How to explain all of that without ruining what they had?

  “Is that the wrong question?” Her heart skipped a beat. He held her gaze as she nodded slowly. Then he grinned. It was the predatory smile of a hunter who’d picked his prey. Hunter rocked his forehead against hers as he looked deep inside her, then he seared a scorching kiss against her lips before rising up on his knees. “Stay there.”